To connect automobile pipes with a hose, end portions of the pipes are covered with a flexible hose, and the outer circumference of the hose is tightened with a hose clamp, whereby the pipes are fixed to the hose.
For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a hose clamp that includes a leaf spring body having an annular shape. The leaf spring body includes at a one end portion a slit along the circumferential direction and an arch-shaped first tab piece protruding in the radial outer direction, and at the other-end portion an insertion piece arranged to be inserted into the slit to slide in the circumferential direction, and a second tab piece protruding in the radial outer direction from an end portion the insertion piece. The first tab piece includes a hook-shaped engaging piece extending from the inner side of the arch-shaped first tab piece toward the second tab piece. The second tab piece includes a stopper portion arranged to hold, when the engaging piece is engaged with the stopper portion, the state of the engagement.
By grasping to make both of the tab pieces approach each other in the circumferential direction with the use of a tool such as pliers, and engaging the engaging piece of the first tab piece with the second tab piece to hold the engagement with the stopper portion, the leaf spring body can be maintained in the radially expanded state. By disposing the hose clamp in this state on the outer circumference of the hose, and then making the pair of tab pieces approach each other in the circumferential direction to disengage the hook-shaped engaging piece from the stopper portion of the second tab piece, the leaf spring body flexibly returns and tightens to fix the hose. When the leaf spring body is radially expanded from a free state or when the leaf spring body is reduced in diameter from the radially expanded state, the insertion piece slides in the slit while the hook-shaped engaging piece moves so as to pass by the insertion piece.